Food interacts with sensors all along the alimentary canal to provide the brain with
information regarding its composition, energy content, and beneficial effect. Vagal afferents
innervating the gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, and liver provide a rapid and discrete
account of digestible food in the alimentary canal, as well as circulating and stored fuels,
while vagal efferents, together with the sympathetic nervous system and hormonal
mechanisms, codetermine the rate of nutrient absorption, partitioning, storage, and …